Quick Tips On The Mortgage World

Monday, December 21, 2015

That Time Of The Year Again…

Here we are at the end of the year.

Now is the time to think about what you want to achieve for the coming year. …To set your goals.

I would like to suggest one of the goals you should incorporate for the coming year if you aren’t already doing it is to create a savings program.

I’ve written about this before, but I wanted to touch on it again here because it’s important…

My job as a loan officer allows me to have a unique perspective into people’s lives.

I can see how much money people make, and how much money they have in the bank.

I do loans for people who make less than $20,000 a year, and I do loans for people who make well over $250,000 a year.

…It doesn’t matter if you make a lot of money, or very little money – there is a common problem that I see again and again…

…No, or very little savings.

This isn’t true in every case, but I see it very often.
People tend to spend what they make.

…even the borrowers I have who make a lot of money don’t tend to save their money.

My advice to you?… Pay yourself first.

Open a savings account, and before you pay any other bills – pay yourself first. …pay it just like it was a car payment or an electric bill.

…Make it a percentage (10%) of your total income.

Pay it every month. …it will build up faster than you think.

There is a special comfort that you will gain when you see that you have a comfortable cushion in the bank.

…I want that feeling for you.

This feeling of comfort will percolate into other areas of your life – less fights about money – less stress at work – happy mom and dad makes for happy kids, etc.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Cool Short Video On How To Be More Grateful…

It’s a good time of year to take a step back and review your year.

…what you did. What you wanted to do, but didn’t. …and, what you want to accomplish next year.

…and, what you’re grateful for.

I’m on Simple Truths email list. They sent an email of this video on being grateful. It’s great, and short.

I encourage you to watch it… http://play.simpletruths.com/movie/perfect-moment/

That’s it for today!

Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, December 14, 2015

What You Need To Know About Part Time Income…

If you are considering getting a part time job to give you extra income for mortgage qualification purposes – consider this…

FHA will want to see that you have a two year stream of this part time income before they will give you credit for it.

…So, in other words if a loan officer tells you that you need more income – you can’t just run out and get a part time job to satisfy this need. …You wouldn’t fulfill the 2 year work history on it.

You do have other options though… If you are in this situation – please give me a call or drop me an email. I would love to try to help you.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

I’m starting to see bank statement programs introduced by major wholesale mortgage investors. Yes, they are already in the market now, but mostly just from small non QM type lenders. This is different.

These are programs where self employed borrowers can prove their income by providing 24 months of bank statements to prove income, instead of tax returns.

The max loan to value ratios on these loans are around 80%. Meaning you would have to put down 20%.

Wanted you to be aware of their introduction.

If you feel you could benefit from a loan like this please let me know.

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading!

Brett

Monday, December 7, 2015

Sometimes Refinancing Isn’t Right For You…

This may sound funny coming from a mortgage guy, but sometimes it’s not necessary to refinance your mortgage to reduce the number of years left on your mortgage.

I have to tell people sometimes that it just doesn’t make sense to refinance. The drop in rate isn’t significant enough to warrant the costs of the refinance.

…but, what do these people do when they want to refinance to reduce the number of years on their mortgage?

One simple thing you can do is simply pay more each month on your current payment.

I’ll give you an example…

On a $100,000 30 year mortgage – if you just add $120 to your payment every month you will pay your mortgage off in 20 years.

…If you add $250 to your payment on a $100,000 30 year mortgage you would pay the mortgage off in 15 years.

Easy right!

That’s it for today!

…by the way if you know of someone needing to be prequalified for a mortgage loan – I appreciate your referrals!

Thanks for reading! …and, have a great day!

Brett

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Make Sure Your Mortgage Company Has This…

Just because FHA, or Fannie Mae allows for something in their guidelines doesn’t mean your current mortgage company will allow it. Many mortgage companies have their own overlay guidelines. These overlay guidelines go on top of the basic loan guidelines.

Overlay guidelines are restrictive, more conservative, and can prevent you from being approved for a mortgage.

If your loan officer runs up against a road block on your loan – whether it’s re-strictive guidelines, or an underwriter that doesn’t like your file, your loan officer had better have another option.

If they just work for a small local bank, or work for one of the big banks (like Wells, or Bank of America) they likely won’t have another option.

If your loan doesn’t fit into their box then you are just out of luck.

Solution:

Make sure you use a mortgage company that has more than one underwriting option. I know with Berkshire we are both a bank and a broker. If our own bank can’t do the loan we have multiple other options on where to best place your loan to get an approval! …and, that’s what you want.

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading!

Brett